Atlantic · in the Kissa Kissa racks
The Inflated Tear
| Recorded | May 1968 |
|---|---|
| Label | Atlantic |
| Released | 1968 |
| Personnel | 4 credited players |
| Discogs | master 33347 |
The record
Blind since childhood, Kirk turns that fact into the title track's meditation, steering a small combo from second-line blues to circular-breathed reed fury. Ron Burton's piano gives the horns room to stack and holler, a high point of his Atlantic years.
Session personnel
- Steve Novosel — bass
- Jimmy Hopps — drums
- Ron Burton — piano
- Roland Kirk — tenor saxophone, saxophone [manzello], saxophone [stritch], clarinet, flute, whistle, english horn, performer [flexafone]
Contemporary reception
No period review located yet. The vintage-press pipeline searches DownBeat, Cash Box, and Billboard for this session.
Pressings
The earliest on file is the 1968 US Atlantic stereo, SC 1502, with a mono promo and a Monarch-plant stereo of the same number from the same year. The UK 588 112 is also 1968. Reissues are everywhere -- 1971 through 1982 US, Japanese P-6045A, and gatefold European copies as ATL 50 233. Rhino handled it in 2005 and again in 2026 on RES1 1502.
Showing the first pressing, audiophile reissues and copies carrying a collector marker, out of 57 pressings on file.
| 1968 | Atlantic · SC 1502 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo earliest on file |
|---|---|
| 1968 | Atlantic · 588 112 — Vinyl, LP, Album |
| 1968 | Atlantic · SC 1502 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Promo, Mono |
| 1968 | Atlantic · SC 1502 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Promo, Mono · laminated sleeve |
| 1968 | Atlantic · SC 1502 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo, Monarch pressing |
| 1968 | Atlantic · 916 052 — Cassette, Album, Reissue |
| 1968 | Atlantic · SC 1502 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Test Pressing |
| 1968 | Atlantic · SC 1502 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo |
| 1971 | Atlantic · P-6045A — Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Stereo |
| 1971 | Atlantic · P-6045A — Vinyl, LP, Album, Promo, Reissue, Stereo |
| 1971 | Atlantic · SC 1502 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Stereo, RI - Philips Pressing |
| 1972 | Atlantic · N°40 388 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue |
| 1972 | Atlantic · P-6045A — Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Stereo |
| 1973 | Atlantic · SC 1502 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue |
Follow the players
Steve Novosel also plays on
Jimmy Hopps also plays on
Ron Burton also plays on